


Bonds

by Augustine94



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aroace Luke Skywalker, Aromantic Luke Skywalker, Aromantic Rey (Star Wars), Asexual Luke Skywalker, Asexual Rey (Star Wars), Gen, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, aroace rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 19:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13441689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Augustine94/pseuds/Augustine94
Summary: Luke and Rey have a talk about relationships and the Force.This fic diverges from the second half of TLJ.





	Bonds

**Author's Note:**

> This assumes an AU for TLJ, that branches off when Rey goes into the pit. Everything up until that point is the same, but her visions and choices from that point on are different. 
> 
> This work was created for the aroace Luke fic drive run by @acesinspace and @astriiformes on tumblr.
> 
> Special thanks to @thecrowmaiden and @consultingzoologist for betaing this for me.

Luke wasn’t quite sure when there had been a turning point in his mental state that allowed him to step out of the hopelessness that had followed him for the past decade. He did know, however, that the arrival of a girl sent by his sister had been critical to getting to that point. He hadn’t wanted to train Rey. He hadn’t wanted to train anyone again after how badly he’d failed with his nephew. But the Force had other plans, and eventually Luke had submitted to the Force’s will.

Rey reminded him too much of himself at that age. The Force had given her nearly the same damn vision that he’d received while training with Yoda on Dagobah. There was a reason Luke had told her to stay out of the Dark Well on the island, but she’d gone there anyway, and seen her friend Finn and his allies in danger and in pain. On Snoke’s ship. Of course her friends were in danger on the ship of the most dangerous Dark Side user in the galaxy.

Much like Yoda had told him, Luke told her that he couldn’t go with her if she went to face Snoke and Kylo to save her friends. He tried to warn her that Force visions were not always accurate, but he knew deep down that Rey would do exactly what he had done. She would risk herself to save her friends. He couldn’t blame her, but he also couldn’t join her. His weakened connection to the Force was telling him that this wasn’t his path. Trusting the Force again was new to him, but he did, and he watched the Millennium Falcon go.

He didn’t sleep well that night.

At some point he must have fallen asleep though, because he bolted awake with the Force screaming of danger. Leia was in trouble. If he didn’t act immediately she and her allies would die.

Luke rushed from his hut, and lifted his X-Wing from the water. His time studying and meditating on Ach-To was over. The Force was telling him that this was the moment in which he needed to rejoin the galaxy. Maybe he couldn’t fix everything, or live up to the legendary status that the galaxy had come to expect of him, but he had to try.

  
\--------------

  


Much later, the two sat in the grass behind the latest Resistance hideout.

Rey wasn’t focused.

She was pretending to be meditating, but she wasn’t, and she wasn’t really trying either. Feeling impish, Luke sent a puff of air at her face with the Force.

She startled comically, and her eyes flew open to glare at him.

“Sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t resist.”

She huffed, and shifted her weight before closing her eyes again.

The distraction lingered.

“Rey, what’s on your mind?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Hmm, why is it so distracting then?”

Rey sighed.

“It’s Finn,” she said finally. “Things have been different since I came back to the Resistance.”

Rey seemed to be having trouble finding the right words.

“I haven’t really had friends before,” she said eventually. “I was alone on Jakku. I couldn’t trust anyone else. Finn was different. We have- a bond. A good type of bond.”

“And?” Luke asked, sensing that there was more.

“Coming back now, Finn and Poe are really close. They have a bond too, and it’s different from the one I have with Finn.”

Ah, yes, Finn had a much different relationship with Poe than he did with Rey. A few days ago Luke had found himself in the hanger bay, nostalgic for the days when he’d flown with Rogue Squadron for the Rebellion. As he wandered through the hanger bay getting to know the new ships, he’d quite unfortunately happened across Poe and Finn getting to know the interior of each other’s mouths with Finn slammed up against Poe’s X-Wing. Luke had found somewhere else to wander after that.

Rey was fidgeting now. She didn’t usually have difficulty finding words, quite the opposite actually, she was often very outspoken. Their conversations didn’t normally require this much prompting from him.

“On Jakku, sometimes I saw people in closer relationships, romantic relationships, or physical ones that weren’t romantic. I never really thought about them. I never had time to think about them. I didn’t trust anyone to be my friend, much less any sort of lover. But now…” she trailed off.

Turmoil and confusion raged within her, coming off in waves through the Force. Luke sent back more calming waves to her.

“It’s alright to be confused,” he said. “These things are confusing even for people who didn’t grow up, as you put it, nowhere.”

“I don’t think it’s because of my life on Jakku though,” Rey said, the words tumbling out of her now. “I don’t think I want a relationship like that at all, even with the people I do trust. Even with Finn. But I still love him. Just- differently. Is that- is it okay to be like that?”

“Why wouldn’t that be okay Rey?”

She fidgeted some more.

“I don’t know. It kind of seems like it would be something of the Dark Side. Not being able to love that way, I mean.”

Luke chuckled. Rey shot him an angry look.

“Sorry,” he said. “That’s funny to me for a couple of reasons, none of which are making fun of you.”

Rey’s expression changed from annoyed to quizzical.

“First,” Luke continued, “Love, can always display itself with either the Light Side of the Dark Side, just like every other emotion. Care, compassion, and understanding are all of the Light. But possessiveness and jealousy can be a quick path into the Dark. My father, Ben’s grandfather, was manipulated by Darth Sidious into doing terrible things to try to save his wife from death. From my research it sounds like Darth Sidious was responsible for the death of her, my mother, all for the purpose of turning my father into Darth Vader.”

“How was Ben corrupted then,” Rey interjected, “He doesn’t love anyone.”

Luke grimaced.

“Sorry,” Rey said more quietly, “I know he’s still your family.”

“It’s alright. He violated and hurt you, and he hurt and killed the people you care about. You are right to be angry with him, even to hate him. You just have to make sure that hatred doesn’t control you, or it could tempt you to the Dark.

“I know,” Rey said, looking distant. He really needed to get her to tell him everything that happened on Snoke’s ship at some point.

“Love can also be powerful in the Light,” Luke continued. “My father’s love for me is what eventually turned him back to the Light. He sacrificed himself to kill Darth Sidious to save me.”

“Wait, what?” Rey’s jaw dropped.

Luke laughed again. “That’s a story for another day. But what you need to understand is this, you are capable of so many different types of love. You are no less for not experiencing the romantic type of love. You have close friends already, and I know you’ll find more throughout the galaxy. The path of the Jedi is often a wandering one. You will find family amongst those to which you have no relation, and there are bonds just as deep yet completely different to romantic ones. You won’t be alone.”

Rey didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m just afraid that Finn won’t have time for me anymore. It’s okay when it’s the three of us, but they’ve been getting a lot more physical with each other lately, and I just don’t understand it.”

“That’s alright,” Luke said with a smile, “I didn’t really understand Leia and Han either. They still made time for me though.”

“Wait,” Rey said, and Luke could see the gears turning in her mind, “Are you the same way?”

“I am.”

“Is this some sort of Jedi thing? But you said that your father…” Rey trailed off.

“No, it’s not related to our Force sensitivity. Although, for thousands of years the Jedi of old were banned from romantic relationships because of the danger of them leading to a fall to the Dark like what happened to my father. I don’t think that was the healthiest way of dealing with that danger, but because of it there were many positive traditions among the Jedi of family not being based around blood relations of romantic partners. They had reason to explore many more types of lifelong partnership outside of romantic ones. It is all very interesting, I think the rest of the galaxy could learn from it. I have some holocrons on the topic that you can borrow if you’d like.”

“I would like that.”

“Good. And Rey, don’t worry about Finn and Poe. Finn loves you just as you love him, and I think Poe likes you quite a bit too. They’ll still have time for you.”

Rey smiled. “I think you’re right.”

Luke returned her smile. “Now. Meditation. You still have a lot to learn.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a prompt from an anon for: "AroAce Luke talking to an aspec/aro/ace Rey or other sequel trilogy characters and helping them understand their identity and just being an awesome mentor/guide."


End file.
